A late Eocene palaeoamasiine embrithopod (Mammalia, Afrotheria) from the Adriatic realm (Island of Rab, Croatia)

Abstract

A cheek tooth recently unearthed in the Lopar Sandstone unit, of late Eocene age, in the northern part of Rab Island, Croatia, is one of the very few Eocene mammalian remains found in the Adriatic area. Thorough comparison of this tooth with those of Old-World Palaeogene mammalian orders suggests that it is a M3 belonging to an embrithopod afrothere. The specimen is referred to as Palaeoamasia sp. This genus was formerly known only in Eocene deposits of Anatolia but with close relatives in Romania among Palaeoamasiinae. The geographical distribution of this subfamily perfectly matches the recently-named Balkanatolian landmass, which experienced in-situ evolution of endemic mammals prior to the Grande Coupure event that occurred around the Eocene-Oligocene transition. This last event is characterised by massive Asian immigration in Western Europe and the supposed extinction of many endemic Central and Western European mammals, including Palaeoamasiinae.